Systems Tool Kit

Systems Tool Kit, often called STK, is a special kind of software made by Analytical Graphics, Inc., which is now part of Ansys. This tool helps engineers and scientists study things that move on the ground, in the sea, in the air, and in space. It lets them see where these objects are and how they relate to each other, even when many different conditions are happening at the same time.

STK started in 1989 as a tool to help solve problems with satellites orbiting Earth. Over time, it has become useful for many different jobs in the aerospace and defense communities. Today, it is used all around the world by many important groups and companies.

People who use STK include big organizations like NASA, ESA, CNES, DLR, Boeing, JAXA, ISRO, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Airbus, The US DoD, and the Civil Air Patrol. These groups use STK to plan, test, and understand how different machines and vehicles move and work together.

History

In 1989, three people named Paul Graziani, Scott Reynolds, and Jim Poland left a company called GE Aerospace to create a software tool called Satellite Tool Kit (STK). At first, this software only worked on special computers made by Sun Microsystems, but it was later changed to run on regular Windows computers.

STK was first used by people who work with space to figure out where satellites could see things on Earth. Over time, more features were added so it could also help with communication systems, radar, missions to other planets, and avoiding collisions between satellites. The software could also show 3D pictures, which made it useful for the military to see forces in the air, on land, at sea, and in space. News groups used it to show pictures of big events like when Russia's Mir Space Station fell back to Earth, the Space Shuttle Columbia incident, and missile tests by North Korea.

By version 12.1 in 2020, the software was renamed Systems Tool Kit to show that it could be used for systems on land, at sea, in the air, and in space.

Interface

The STK interface is a standard display that can be adjusted with toolbars and maps and 3D graphic windows. You can do all your work using a mouse and keyboard.

In STK, each analysis or design space is called a scenario. In each scenario, you can create many things like satellites, airplanes, targets, ships, or communication systems. Each scenario has basic settings, but you can change them for each object as needed. You can only have one scenario at a time, but you can save data to use later.

For each object in a scenario, you can make reports and pictures, both still and moving. You can also see how objects relate to each other and include real-world limits to get more accurate results. You can group multiple objects together to study how they interact. AGI also provides tools to add STK features into other programs or to build new programs using AGI technology.

Modules

STK is designed like MATLAB and Simulink, allowing users to add extra parts to the basic package. These added parts help improve specific tasks that users need to do.

Integration

STK can work together with other programs in two ways: it can be placed inside another program or controlled from outside. This is done using something called the Connect scripting language. There is also a special way for programmers to connect with STK.

Connect is a special way to send messages that works with any programming language. As long as a program can send and receive information through a connection, it can control STK using Connect. People have used Connect with many different languages like C, C++, C#, Perl, Visual Basic, VBScript, Java, JavaScript, and MATLAB. You can find examples in the STK help files or on the Ansys website.